A New Trail to Paradise
by MsWolfGirl
Summary: Four average girls find themselves whisked away to the world of Wolf's Rain as wolves. Unbeknownst to them, their presence has a huge impact on the lives of Kiba, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. Could these girls change the dismal fate of the wolves? OC's X ?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is only my second fanfiction, so I hope you guys like it! I LOVE reviews and constructive criticism NO FLAMES PLEASE! No one deserves to be torn apart for their writings! Lets keep it peaceful please! :) **

~Chapter 1~

"Why are you going over there there's nothing there. Go that way! What the hell are you doing Tori?'

"Livy, if you don't stop yelling at me and telling me what to do I will NEVER play Zelda with you again!" I yelled back. I turned off my wii and said "actually, I'm done. You make this game way too stressful." I pulled my medium length dark brown hair back into a messy bun and stretched my slender 5'9 frame across the couch I was laying on and blinked my deep green-brown eyes as I yawned.

"Aww I'm sorry Victoria! Please don't quit yet!" My roommate and friend Olivia whined. Her chin level black hair bounced as she used her chocolate brown eyes in a puppy dog face at me. She was short, about 5'3 and very thin, but not unhealthy.

"Nope, I'm done for now. You can play if you want" I yawned again.

"Where are Missy and Claire? I wanna go eat before the cafeteria closes!" Olivia huffed.

"Let's go then! Just text them and have them meet us there!" I replied.

She had just began her text when my before mentioned friends opened the door. I was about to wave to the two when my head exploded in agonizing pain. "AHHH! My head!" I cried as I clutched my head. Vaguely, I heard my friends scream in unison. I couldn't do anything to reach them as my vision was clouded with black butterflies as I lost consciousness.

"Whoa, Look at those dogs! I've never seen dogs that big!"

"I wonder if they belong to someone…"

"PUPPIES!"

"No honey, don't get too close, they might be feral..."

I groaned as the voices got closer and louder. My head was still pounding and my body felt like jelly. I slowly opened my eyes to see who the voices belonged to but all I could see was a white muzzle and black nose sticking out of my face…wait… I shook my head to clear my vision, but the thing never left my face! I tried to stand up, but my legs weren't working right. I looked down at my arms only to see white furry paws! I yelped and jumped back in surprise. _This can't be happening! _ I thought to myself. Wait, where's Livy, Claire and Missy? I frantically looked at my surroundings looking for my missing friends.

I spotted a small light gray wolf huddled in the corner watching me cautiously from the corner of the dead end alley we found ourselves in. Still unused to my new legs, I crawled my way over to the little wolf and stop a short distance away when it growled warningly at me and muttered "Stay back!" in a very familiar voice.

"Livy?" I asked tentatively, cocking my head to the side. The little wolf whined in response and crawled over to me. "Tori?" She asked quietly. My newly acquired tail started wagging frantically as I whimpered in excitement.

"I'm so glad you're okay! Do you know where Claire and Missy are? They came into the room right as I blacked out… I really hope they're okay…" I worried.

"I have no idea where they are…when I woke up we were in this alley and I was sure you were a rabid beast that would eat me if I got too close so kept my distance." She chuckled.

"You jerk!" I grumbled at her. "I can't blame you though I guess, seeing as we did turn into giant furry dogs." I joked.

All of a sudden I felt something slam into my side and grasp my fur tightly in an embrace. I jumped to my feet and looked down to find a little girl with strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes attached to my neck. "Puppy!" she cried with a huge smile on her face. My tail wagged gently in response and I delicately licked her cheek. I loved kids and this little girl was adorable!

"Hannah get away from it! It might bite you!" A middle aged man called as he ran to us from the street the little girl apparently appeared from. He had short brown hair, was fairly muscular, and had a very kind face, but it was creased with worry as he slowed his approach as he neared, obviously afraid of me being so close to his daughter. The young woman down the street cautiously walked up tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and watched me, gauging my reaction to people getting so close so suddenly. I lowered my head and continued wagging my tail, imitating what my dog back home did when people came up to pet her.

"Kevin, I don't think she's feral. She seems sweet. I mean Hannah ran up to her like that and not even a growl out of her. And look how good she is with her." The woman cooed at me as she crouched in front of me. She slowly reached her hand out to me, stopping an inch or so away from my face. I closed the distance and nuzzled her hand, careful to not knock the little girl over as she stood petting my neck.

_Wow Tori, I think they like you. _Livy said to me. _Well why don't you come over and make friends with them too? Maybe they'll take us with them and get us some food. I'm starving! _I replied as our bellies rumbled.

The man scratched his head and looked over at Livy as she slowly crawled her way over to us. He reached out his hand to her, judging her reaction. When she lowered her head and stayed on the ground, he pet her head and stood back up. "Well, I can tell they're hungry. Why don't we take them back to the house and get them some food, then we can figure out what to do with them." Our tails began wagging at the mention of food and we both got to our feet. The woman and the man walked ahead out of the alley while the little girl started walking still holding onto my fur. Livy and I tried walking, but we collapsed, still adjusting to our new legs and exhausted from hunger. We whined as the couple continued walking. At our whimpers they turned and found us lying on the ground.

"Puppies tired…" Hannah said as she crouched between us and stroked our fur.

"Well, I guess we'll have to carry them back. Anna, carry the small gray one? I'll get the white one." The man said as he lifted me off the ground. The woman Anna picked up Livy and we were carried a few blocks away to a cute little house on the edge of town. It was a light blue color, with a dark mahogany door that was very happy and inviting. The front yard was fenced in with a tall wooden picket fence painted white that led all the way around the house to what I assumed would be a back yard. There was also a short gravel driveway leading from the road to the house. They brought us in and placed us on the white tile floor of their kitchen. Two bowls filled with random scraps were set in front of us after a couple minutes and we quickly ate the food, finally feeling comfortable after our ordeal.

"What are we going to do with them dear? We can't throw them back out in the streets…who knows who would get a hold of them." The woman said tentatively.

"Well they must belong to someone…I can't imagine someone just throwing two sweet dogs like this out in the cold for no reason." The man replied as he scratched his head. "We'll keep them for now. They need to rest and we'll take them for a walk around town tomorrow and see if anyone claims them. If not, I guess we'll keep them until they get sick of us." He chuckled. Livy and I were currently curling ourselves up on the blankets they put on the floor for us to get some much needed rest. Hannah wobbled over to us and rested her head on my side as she dozed off. I curled my tail around her and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, I found the bowls on the floor refilled with food and I could see Anna, Hannah and Kevin out in the backyard playing on the swing in their back yard. I stood up and stretched my body out, still working through some kinks as I adjusted to the changes. Livy was already up and practicing walking, so I did the same. After about ten minutes, we were adjusted well and went to eat our breakfast.

"Ya know, it's kind of humiliating eating off the floor, even if we are wolves now." Livy stated as we watched the happy family through the glass door.

"Well, at least we're getting food," was my reply. Hannah then looked over and saw us watching her. I wagged my tail and barked at her, hoping she'd get my hint and let us outside. "Okay, so it's a bit weird to act like a dog, but at least we have somewhere to stay off the streets for the time being. We'll have to leave soon though and look for Claire and Missy. I'm hoping we'll hear something in town when they take us for that walk later." I mumbled as I remembered our missing friends. I desperately hoped they were as comfortable and safe as we were… I thought to myself as I watched Hannah run up to us with a big smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, here's chapter two! I won't always be able to upload this frequently, but if people tell me they like it, then I'll update as regularly as I can! Please review! :)**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Wolf's Rain or any of it's characters. I only own Hannah and her family and my OC's Ilyana, Tori, Livy, Claire and Missy**

~?'s POV~

_Where is she? I've got to find her! _ A small gray sable she-wolf slunk through the alleys, desperately following the fading traces of her missing sister's scent. _This trail is too old…it's been days since she's been here…_ The she-wolf took off down another alley hoping to pick up a new trail. _Wait, what's this? _ She took an inquiring sniff, and found two new scents coming from somewhere nearby.

_I've been in this city for weeks and I don't recognize these scents. They're definitely wolves though, but there's something human about them…hmmm…maybe they have information on my sister. Only one way to find out. _She followed the scents to a dead end street a little ways away.

She saw three human males with sticks walking menacingly down the alleyway. _Uh oh…that can't be good! _ She crept a few steps closer and saw two she-wolves cowering in the corner, one had a light blonde coat that faded down to white halfway down her legs with bright blue-green eyes, the other was a glossy pitch black with ice blue eyes. The black female was snarling viciously at the men, but could hardly stand up. _Guess this is where I come in!_

The gray female snuck up behind the human in the back of the group and jumped on his back, sinking her fangs into the tender flesh of his neck, snapping it instantly. She jumped off as the man fell and locked eyes with the other two humans, growling and showing her bloody fangs and maw as she stalked forward. The men panicked and dropped their sticks, taking off down the nearby alley yelling and tripping the whole way.

Once she was sure they were gone, the small gray she-wolf started towards the two terrified females. The black one started growling again, causing the gray to stop and cock her head to the side in curiousity.

"Now is that any way to treat the wolf that just saved your lives?" She questioned jokingly.

"What the hell is going on here?! You just snapped that guy's neck like it was nothing! And why are we wolves? When I woke up this morning, I was definitely not a giant furry dog!" The black ranted as she struggled to rise to her feet. The small blonde shivered and whined, scooting closer to the black female.

"What? You mean you guys weren't _born_ wolves? But no human has ever regained the wolf it lost…especially if they never had it in the first place…where are you guys from?" She laid down to appear less threatening.

"We're from a small town in Wisconsin…Where are we, and who are you? And what are you babbling about a person's wolf?" The black wolf retorted.

The gray wolf sighed, "My name is Ilyana. You're in Freeze City. Where is this 'Wisconsin'?"

"What do you mean where? Wisconsin is a state in the United States! How do you not know that? And where the hell is Freeze City? I've never heard of that in my life…" The black she-wolf had finally managed to get on her feet without collapsing and the small blonde was sitting up and watching the gray curiously and cautiously.

"Look, we're just talking in circles. How about you just come with me and you can figure stuff out as you go. I'm looking for my sister and I was hoping you'd be able to help me. But clearly you have no idea what's going on, so I'll just take you somewhere to sleep for the night where you won't get killed and we'll all be on our merry way." Ilyana stretched, and then started down the alley back where she'd came.

"Wait" _So the shorty does speak _Ilyana thought to herself. "What?"

"Umm..We were with our two friends before we got…separated. My name is Missy, and she's Claire. Maybe we could help you search for your sister, and in return you can help us find our friends Olivia and Victoria?" The blonde quietly asked.

Ilyana paced a little as she thought. She knew she would never find her sister on her own at this rate, and while bringing two very inexperienced wolves was dangerous, she could use the extra noses. "All right. But before we do anything, we have to get you two acting like the wolves you are, not like some clumsy pups." Just as she said this, the blonde known as Missy yelped as she face-planted it into a garbage can when she tried to walk forwards.

"Ugh, this is gonna be more work than I thought.." Ilyana grumbled as she made her way to her new travel companions.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Here's chapter 3! I hope you guys like it! Please review! I love getting feedback on my stories, and the more reviews I get the more likely I am to update sooner! Merry Christmas to you all! :)**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Wolf's Rain or any of it's characters :(**

~Chapter 3~

"Mommy! I'm gonna take the doggies for a walk, kay?" I groggily raised my head as little Hannah's yelling woke me from my nap. _"Livy, time for another walk. " _I muttered as I slowly stood up from the floor.

"_Ugh..what's the point? There's no way we're going to find them this way. We've been going for walks with these people for the last two weeks and still no sign of them. We need to get out of here and really search the city. Going around the block a couple times a day isn't good enough dammit!" _Livy snarled at me. I growled back at her in response.

"_I know that! But do you really think we'll be able to defend ourselves in the city? We'd get shot or picked up by animal control and thrown in a pound before we'd get more than three blocks away! I know we have to find them, but we have to be smart about it!" _Our growls grew in volume as we argued and Hannah stared at us in shock before she started bawling, "Mommy! The doggies are fighting!"

Her mother hurried in and took in our defensive stances towards each other before she sighed and slowly made her way over to us. Livy growled quietly and slunk to the door where Hannah was now waiting with the leashes. I put my ears back and lowered my head with guilt. We hadn't meant to scare the little girl.

Anna petted my head and chuckled. "Honey, they weren't fighting, they were just arguing that's all." She gave me a reassuring pat, then shooed me towards the door. "Now be careful Hannah, only go around this block and if they start pulling you, get them back to the house or just let them go. Do NOT follow them into town if they get loose. Come get me or your father okay?"

"Okay mommy! Come on puppies! Let's go for a walk!" The little girl yelled as she clipped the leashes onto our newly acquired collars. Mine was a deep purple with silver studs around it, while Livy's was maroon with similar silver studs. We patiently waited while she put on her coat, hat and gloves and opened the door.

The walk began as it always did. Hannah was skipping along humming or singing to whatever popped in her head with me and Livy on either side of her as we made our way around the block. But today was different.

As we were rounding the second corner of the block, an overwhelming stench of booze and another, somewhat familiar scent raided our noses. "_What the hell?" _I said to Livy. We looked ahead to where the smell was coming from and saw a large sleeping black dog wearing a sharp spiked collar tied to a pole. She was a wolf like us! Just then, the door to the local pub opened and an old man wearing a trench coat and a Stetson walked out. Hannah, being the shy little girl she is, shuffled her feet nervously as she walked, causing her to trip and fall, crying as she rubbed the dirt out of the scrapes on her hands and knees.

We rushed up to her to comfort her just as the sleeping dog woke up. It took one look at us and lunged to the end of her leash as she snarled and barked viciously at us. My tail automatically raised along with my hackles as I stood in front of Hanna and Livy. I pulled back my lips in a snarl warningly at the strange dog. The old man looked from us to his dog and back again. He glared at me as he raised his rifle to aim at me. My growls grew louder as I tried to find a way to get Livy and Hannah out of the way. Just then Hannah jumped in front of me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she sobbed.

"Please don't hurt my doggies mister! She didn't mean to growl at you! She was just scared I promise!" I instantly halted my snarls and nuzzled Hannah, trying to push her behind me, but she was having none of it.

The old man's glare softened as he looked at the little girl and the dog settled down some, but continued growling at us. "Where did you get those…dogs little girl? They look awful big to be regular dogs." He took a step forward and I let out a low pitch growl in warning. He stopped and stared before he said "Take your dogs and go home little one. But don't let me catch them out alone. I won't be so nice next time. Come on Blue, let's get out of here girl." He untied his dog and she let off one last growl before turning and following him down the street.

"_W-w-what the hell….I've never been so freaking scared in my life!"_ Livy whimpered as she trotted over to Hannah and I.

"_I don't know who that was, but that's the reason we haven't left the house yet. But now that they know that we were with Hannah, I think we should leave. We don't want that man springing a visit to this family's house."_ Livy mentally agreed with me as we slowly coaxed little Hannah through the rest of the walk back to the house.

Anna instantly knew something was wrong when Hannah walked into the house with tear streaks down her face and we wouldn't leave her side. "Sweetie what happened?" She asked as she wiped her daughters face.

Hannah sniffled whimpered as she retold her mother what had happened. "Oh no. That's not good. I'll have to tell your father when he gets home. I'm going to chain the dogs to their dog houses outside, then let's get you cleaned up okay sweetie?" Hannah nodded her head, hugged us one more time and then trotted off to her bedroom.

Anna walked up to us and took off our leashes and suddenly pulled us into a hug. "Thank you so much for protecting my daughter. You two are such good dogs." She scratched us both behind our ears and led us outside, chained us to our respective dog houses, then walked back inside to take care of her very distraught daughter.

I waited for Anna to get out of sight before I began gnawing at the thin chains that held me to the dog house. Livy looked at me startled at first, but quickly followed suit and we bit the chains until they finally broke, leaving only a foot or so of chain hanging off our collars.

"_Well Livy. Looks like you were right. Time for us to go find our friends." _And with that, we leapt over the picket fence and took off into town.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took me so long to update, I was pretty busy with the Holidays and I had a bit of writers block trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to have this chapter turn out. I hope you guys like it! Please leave me some reviews! I love some good constructive criticism or just to hear that I'm doing okay! :) Unfortunately I don't own Wolf's Rain, just my OC's. Enjoy!**

~Chapter 4~

"Well, you guys aren't half bad for rookies!" Ilyana said as she cleaned her muzzle of the sewer rats the three she-wolves had managed to hunt down on their trek through the city.

Missy was gagging as she tried to eat her first rat while Claire was struggling through her third and Ilyana had finished her sixth. "This is easily the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do.." Missy shuddered as she swallowed another bite.

"At least it's food Missy… We need our strength if we're going to find Livy and Tori." Claire cleaned the rat off her face and paced at the entrance of the sewers. "We should get going. I want to find them soon. I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen." Her hackles had been raised since shortly after Ilyana had finished teaching them the wolfy basics.

"Something got your tail in a twist?" Ilyana perked her ears and listened for anything out of the ordinary that could have startled Claire. Hearing nothing, she picked herself up off the ground and walked toward the entrance. "Well I don't hear or smell anything. But we should get going. Our friends aren't going to find themselves after all!" She cheered as she jumped through the manhole they left open after their entrance a couple hours earlier.

Missy cleaned her paws off in a semi-clean puddle and padded off after Ilyana with Claire right on her heels. After jumping out of the sewers, they trotted down the dark alley and paused at the intersection of the street, watching for any passing humans. The alley they came out of was located near a bar, and being close to midnight the majority of the people that were out and about were located in that general area. Luckily the number of people out was small so they managed to sneak down the street without being seen.

The sudden crash that was heard next startled all three of the wolves as they growled at the offending garbage can that had fallen over. "Hehe, we really need some sleep!" Ilyana giggled as she walked up to the can. When she got closer, the smell of the garbage got stronger, but so did another scent.

Wolf.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Ilyana walked up to the small brown wolf huddled behind the garbage can, looking up at her with frightened eyes, tail tucked tightly under his body with his ears lowered to his head submissively. The bangles on his two front legs jingled together as he shivered with fear.

"Awww, hey don't be scared! I promise we're mostly harmless!" Ilyana sat on her haunches and wagged her tail happily. The little brown wolf cocked his head to the side and slowly walked toward us, easing out of his submissive posture into a more relaxed one. "W-who are you?" He asked timidly.

"Well, my name is Ilyana, and the black grumpy gus over there is Claire, and the blonde scaredy-cat is Missy! What's your name little guy?"

"My name's Toboe. It's nice to meet you! I haven't met another wolf before today! First Tsume, now you girls!" His face sobered as he thought about this other wolf Tsume, but quickly resumed its happy expression as he continued talking. "Have you guys always lived in the city? I've never seen any of you here before." He chattered as he began to feel more at ease with the three females.

"Well, these two are newbies, I actually just met them earlier today! I'm just in town looking for my sister. We're trying to find a place to stay tonite. Do you have anywhere we could crash for the night?" Ilyana stretched and rose, scoping the area for possible threats nonchalantly.

While those two were chatting, Claire and Missy looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Clearly nobody was being found tonite. The two girls noticed Toboe leading Ilyana into a nearby building that appeared to be abandoned and trotted after them.

They entered into a small kitchen, with a small wooden table in the center with four small wooden stools set up around it. To the left was a small stone fireplace that obviously hadn't been used in years. Straight ahead from the door was a set of stairs leading up to the next floor. The four wolves all made their way up the stairs, walking into the only room on the floor, which happened to be a master bedroom with a large soft bed covered in dust. Toboe rushed into the room and pounced on the bed, jumping around and kicking up the dust that had gathered on the thick plush comforter.

"There! Now the bed isn't dusty anymore!" The young pup wagged his tail as he curled up in a ball on one corner of the bed and let out a deep sigh. "Well, aren't you guys gonna sleep on the bed too? There's plenty of room!"

Ilyana and Claire walked over to the window to make sure there was no danger nearby while Missy hopped on the bed and curled up close to Toboe, deciding she trusted the young wolf. After deciding the house was safe enough, Claire climbed onto the bed and huddled up to Missy's side and huffed before closing her eyes to attempt to sleep. Ilyana curled up on the opposite end of the bed where she could keep an eye out on their surroundings.

"Goodnight everyone!" Toboe said as he shifted and began to doze.

"Goodnight." The three females responded. None of the wolves sleeping on the plush bed noticed the steel-gray wolf looking in the window from the rooftop across the street, huffing and running back the way he'd came when he saw that the young pup he'd met earlier that day and had an argument with was safe.

~The following morning with Olivia and Victoria~

"Ugh, can we rest now? I'm tired! I can't keep this up any more we've been running all night! We hardly got any sleep!" Livy groaned as the we ran down yet another alley searching for our friends.

"I'm sorry Livy, I'm just afraid of that man and his dog finding us. We've never fought like this before, I don't think we'd make it if we ran into them again…and I think it would be best if we kept moving so Hannah and her family don't find us. I'd hate to have to run from them and make little Hannah upset that we left." I said apologetically. "Let's try to find somewhere we can rest for a little while. There! We'll climb up on that roof and look from up there and see what we can find!" I encouraged her along as we crossed the street and jumped onto a crate leading up to a low roof, where we jumped up to the following house's roof higher up. We walked quietly along the edge of the roof, glancing off every now and then to see if we could find somewhere we could take a nap in peace. The streets were bustling with people and it was practically impossible to find a street free of people.

We were walking on opposite sides of the building when I looked over the edge of my side and noticed a large white wolf limping down the street, headed in the direction we were coming from. I froze and cocked my head to the side. _How strange…why would a wolf be walking through the middle of the city? Well, I guess I can't really talk, but our situation is a lot different!_ I thought to myself. Livy made her way over to me, noticing that I had stopped.

"Whats the matter?" She questioned. I motioned to the strange wolf down below and she gasped when she saw the wound in his leg. "He's hurt!" She exclaimed. I looked down at the large male and saw the long gash in his leg. _Well that would explain the limping._

All of a sudden an angry growl accompanied by the cocking of a gun came from the opposite end of the street. "It's the hunter and the dog from before! Livy, stay up here! No matter what, don't let him find you! I've got to help him!"

"Wait! What are you going to do! You don't know how to fight as a human much less like this! You'll be killed!" She whimpered as she paced near me. "I don't have time to figure it out Livy, I have to help him!" And with that I launched myself off the roof, and onto the black dog that was midair heading towards the injured white wolf. I snarled as I bit down hard on her shoulder and we crashed into some nearby crates. The black dog yelped when we landed and immediately launched herself at me. We wrestled, snarling and biting at each other as the hunter stared at us helplessly. I could tell he wanted to shoot at me, but we were tumbling so much in our fighting that he didn't have a clear shot.

A new snarl rang out as the white injured male ran at the hunter. The dog noticed this and jumped away from me to protect her owner. The hunter raised his gun and fired, shooting the wolf right through head. I snarled and threw my wounded body in front of him as he collapsed. Just as I was preparing to charge the two, my vision went fuzzy and the last thing I noticed was sirens coming close and Livy running away from the ledge of the roof. _Good, at least she listened and is safe. _I thought to myself as my vision went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey all! Here's the next chapter, hopefully I put in enough detail... I will try to get another chapter or two up in the next couple days, but I probably wont be able to update for a while because I'm going to Arizona to visit family! But I will try to post enough to make up for it! Please review and let me know what you guys think! :) **

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Wolf's Rain or any of its Characters, just my OC's :(**

I woke up sore and tender from my fight with that black dog. My inexperience clearly showed as I was covered in scratches and bruises, however I felt reasonably well. All things considered, I could have been dead. I had gotten lucky that she got distracted by her owner. This thought reminded me of the other wolf and I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. I was in a large steel cage in what appeared to be a storage room. Fairly empty and no windows to see where I was. I sighed and looked around me, finally noticing that the white male was in the cage with me.

I rushed over to him and nudged him with my snout, but he didn't respond. I listened carefully, and heard his heart beating and slow even breaths. I let out a breath of relief and finally noticed that he smelled really good. He had a wild, foresty scent that made me feel calm and safe. I shook my head and walked to the door of the cage to see if I could find a way to squeeze out. I was sniffing at the bars when the door to the room opened and two people walked in and paused near the door. One was a woman with a purple collared undershirt with a gray suit over it with her blonde hair piled up on her head. Her gentle, light blue eyes were looking at the cage. She looked friendly enough, but seeing as I was in a cage and she was clearly not letting me out, I was understandably hesitant. Plus the man beside her didn't look too friendly… He was wearing a gray overcoat and had dirty blonde hair, with an aloof expression on his face, but his green eyes watched me hesitantly.

I growled as they started approaching the cage, showing my teeth as I backed into the far back corner of the cage, near the white male. Even if I was afraid, I didn't want anything to happen to him. They stopped a few feet away from the cage and crouched, looking us over. I cringed at their scrutinizing glances and my hackles raised instinctually as my growling increased in volume.

"Be careful Cher, that one looks like it may come through the cage at us..." The man said as he tugged on her arm.

"Oh Hubb, there's no way it's going to get out. They're beautiful dogs. I wonder what they were doing wandering the street… I wonder if they're a breeding pair or if they're siblings. Their white coats are stunning." The woman said. I balked when she mentioned "breeding pair" and if I was in my human body I would be blushing like a maniac. I resumed my growling however when the man inched closer to the cage.

"So do you think they're wolves?"

"I don't know, I've never seen one before, and these are quite large. But we should head back to the lab. I need to check on Cheza." The woman rose to her feet and began walking back to the door. The man followed suit and rubbed the back of his head and huffed in annoyance.

"Not Cheza again…"

They started bickering as they walked out of the room, door clicking shut behind them. I shook off my nerves and walked back to the other side of the cage and laid down. _Might as well try to rest while I'm stuck in here. _

"You didn't have to protect me back there you know. I can handle myself just fine." A low masculine voice said. I jumped in surprise and turned to find the white wolf looking at me with his piercing golden eyes as he laid there motionless.

"O-oh, well you were injured and I kind of just…acted without thinking, hehe…" I muttered nervously. Even laying there battered and bruised he was a gorgeous wolf and I couldn't help but feel flustered. All of a sudden a man snuck into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. He slowly approached the cage and I got a good look at him. He looked roughly 20, somewhat chubby with messy tan hair and yellow hoodie with sweatpants and a black necklace type thing around his neck with a metal plate on it. He came up to the door and looked at me with a goofy grin on his face, to which I responded with a low growl.

"Hey now, is that any way to act towards your savior beautiful?" He chuckled. I slowly stopped growling, but I was still tense and cautious. Then I noticed that this wasn't his real form. He changed right in front of my eyes into a large tan colored wolf with the black collar still present and friendly brown eyes. I gasped in surprise and cocked my head.

"You're a wolf?" I questioned.

"Well I'm certainly not a cat!" He wagged his tail and approached the cage, deciding I was comfortable enough for him to approach. "So how did you guys get stuck in here princess?"

"Well I-"

"We can get out whenever we want. Why were you hiding your true form?" The white wolf next to me stated harshly.

"So I wouldn't end up where you are. Humans are skittish, you can't just waltz around in your wolf form and not get a bad reaction out of someone!" He responded good naturedly.

The wolf next to me stood up and snarled through the cage at the newcomer, "Have you lost your pride as a wolf?!" I looked at him in shock, where had this come from?

"Pride won't count for much if you're dead." He said simply. This caught my jail buddy off guard, he simply stared at the tan wolf.

"Well, are you guys ready to get out of there? There's a little gray she wolf outside that's pretty anxious to see you princess." He smirked at me.

"LIVY! She's okay right?! She's not hurt or anything?" My tail waved frantically in my desperation.

"Hahaha she's fine! A little shook up, but no worse for wear! She literally ran into me freaking out about guns and dogs and people and it took me hours to calm her down enough to figure out where you were! Which is what brings me here, so without further ado shall we go?"

"Yes please!" I exclaimed.

Sirens began going off then and I looked at the bars in panic, I had no idea how I was going to get out of this one…

That was when the large wolf next to me walked forward and grabbed the bars with his jaws and began biting, bending and pulling the bars apart. I followed suit, though much less effectively than him, I was determined to help. After we pulled them far enough apart for us to squeeze through, both males shifted into human form. The formerly white wolf was as stunning in human form as he was in wolf. He was tall, with dark brown hair and piercing ice blue eyes. He was wearing jeans and tennis shoes with a white t-shirt and brown jacket. He put his hands in said pockets and looked at me expectantly.

"Umm…can I help you?" I asked sarcastically.

"You can't really go around lookin' like that. You'll get thrown back in here in a heartbeat!" The tan wolf walked up to me then in his human form. "You do know how to shift right?"

"Well…. I'm not exactly an ordinary wolf…and I can't shift… Trust me, if I could I would have LONG ago…" I muttered sadly.

"Well I can smell you're not ordinary, you smell faintly like a human, but nowhere near as unpleasant as they usually smell. You actually smell kind of flowery…" His voice trailed off as he heard footsteps approaching. "Well doll, we gotta figure something out or this will all have been pointless!"

"There's a pile of soot over by that vent. If you can make yourself black or gray, then we can walk out with you like you're our dog." The brown haired boy said.

"Ew. Well it's worth a shot." I mumbled unhappily. I walked over to the other side of the room and rolled around in the dirt. I ended up a medium gray color after shaking out the excess soot from my coat. "This is the most uncomfortable I've felt in a long time. And that's saying something."

"Haha well, gray suits you pretty well I'd say! Come on, let's ditch this joint!" The chubby man exclaimed as he started walking out the door and down the hall, the other boy following close behind. I trotted up and walked between them, making myself seem small and insignificant. We made it out of the building without a hitch, walking straight past the two known as Cher and Hubb from before. The man sneezed as we walked by and looked at us suspiciously, but lost interest when a scientist ran out of the building, yelling that the dogs had escaped. I chuckled to myself and ran after the two boys as they climbed up onto a roof nearby.

Just as I made it onto the roof I was tackled by blur of gray fur that started nuzzling and cuddling into me. "Livy!" I cried out. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Are you stupid!? That was the most reckless thing you have EVER done! You could have been killed!" She growled at me as she berated me.

"Now now ladies, we're all okay now, so let's just enjoy the full moon!" The tan haired boy said, leaning back and resting with his arms behind his head. The other boy was sitting at the edge of the roof with one arm propped on his knee with his other leg stretched out, looking up at the moon.

"Soo..." I started hesitantly, "What are your names?" I directed to the boys.

The brown haired boy turned to look at me and we kept our eyes locked for a moment before he shook his head slightly as if it clear it and said simply "Kiba."

"And I'm Hige! Pleased to meetya! And what's your name princess? I already know her name is Olivia."

"Victoria, but you can call me Tori." I replied, suddenly feeling shy.

"Pretty name! So what are you guys doing in a junk city like this?" Hige asked

"Well…We're looking for our friends. We got separated a few weeks ago. What about you guys?" I replied.

"I'm here because it smells like something interesting is gonna happen, so I figured I'd check it out. What about you Kiba? What brings you here?"

Kiba closed his eyes for a moment and then looked over at us. "I followed the scent of the lunar flower here. I'm searching for paradise."

When he said paradise I felt my heart clench and my pulse race. I had no idea why, but the mention of paradise and the lunar flower made me anxious and excited. Apparently it did the same to Livy because she started fidgeting and looked at me with an excited expression on her face.

"Oh, you mean Cheza? She's that flower –girl thing that those scientists made! I heard that she was the key to paradise…but I don't know if I'd believe it…ya never know what those nobles are thinking…" Hige recalled.

"Cheza… I'm going to find her, and go to paradise. There is nothing that matters more to a wolf than finding paradise…the ultimate happiness…" Kiba trailed off as he returned his gaze to the moon thoughtfully.

It was then that I decided to go with him. Seeing that determination on his face, I knew that no matter where he went, I _needed_ to follow him to paradise, and I couldn't understand why.

"I'm coming with you. That is…if that's okay?" I asked boldly. Livy looked at me shocked for a moment, but then nodded her head. "Yeah me too!" she added. Kiba looked me in the eyes and seemed to be searching for something before his expression softened slightly.

"Sure." Was all he said, but he grinned at the moon and leaned back, just as an overwhelmingly lovely smell invaded my senses. We all took in deep breaths and relaxed, dozing on the roof under the moonlight.

"Well if you got these babes going with you, then count me in! Besides, it sounds like a good time to me!" Hige laughed.

All of a sudden we heard a crash and looked up in the sky to see a ship hovering near where we came out of the lab earlier. I had a sinking feeling in my gut and my eyes found Kiba's and we kept eye contact for a minute, obviously thinking the same thing as we both bolted. He jumped off the roof with Hige and Livy, but I thought it would be faster up on the roof, so I ran along the roof tops until I saw a man with a white mask with black feathers coming off the top, dressed in a long black cape holding a girl with short pink hair and blood red eyes in his arms, standing on a bridge linking the streets below me.

Hige, Kiba and Livy all ran up from the street below and Kiba gasped when he saw the girl in the mysterious man's arms.

I gasped as the overwhelming flower scent from earlier hit my nose with amazing force. The power it held over me was astounding, I yearned to be near her and protect her. _Cheza_. I thought to myself. That has to be her! I jumped down to close end of the bridge and snarled at the man.

"Let her go!" Kiba and I shouted at once.

The man let out an evil chuckle. "Good job finding her wolves. But I'll be taking her with me." And with that, he grabbed the back of her neck and held her out above the bridge. She let out an awful cry of pain, and the high pitched noise had us all wincing in pain. The man then was lifted into the aircraft as we watched our precious flower maiden get carried away.

I let out a mournful howl of despair, the other three quickly joining me. I looked at my new companions with determination. _We will find you Cheza…I promise you that. _

With all the stress and anxiety we felt, we failed to hear the four howls responding to our desperate cries.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay! I'm back from my Arizona trip and ready to write! :P Here's the next chapter, It was kind of rushed, so I'm sorry if it isn't the most well written chapter... Please please review! I'd love some more feedback! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!**

**~Disclaimer- I unfortunately don't own Wolf's Rain or any of it's characters, just some plot ideas and my OC's!**

~Chapter 6~

The distressed howls coming from the other side of the city snapped the four wolves out of their slumber. The sound was so full of mourning that they couldn't help but respond in kind.

Missy was the first to recover from the wave of overwhelming and unexplainable sadness that came over them. "Claire, I…I think that loudest howl was Tori…I don't know why, but for some reason, I just know it's her!" Her blonde face was set in determination as she hopped off the bed and headed for the door, "Come on! We have to find them! We're so close!"

"How could you possibly know that it was her? What if it's just some dog getting beat up in an alley? It's not safe to go running through the city in the middle of the night..." Claire responded with a huff as she curled back up to resume her sleep.

"Actually," Toboe piped in shyly, "Nighttime is the best time for us to travel…there aren't many people around and the ones that are in the streets are easy enough to avoid. And…that was definitely a wolf's howl…I haven't heard a sad cry like that…well, ever…" Toboe said sadly, putting his head on his paws.

"Well I think we should go check it out! At the very least we might be able to get some information, even if it isn't your friends! It couldn't hurt! And you have the fearless Ilyana here to protect you!" She laughed as she posed with her head and tail head high.

"Come on Claire. You know they have to be looking for us too… What if they're in trouble and we just leave them to die…I can't live with that risk! We need to go NOW!" Missy snarled as she spun around and nosed open the mostly closed door and took off down the stairs.

Claire growled and slowly made her way off the bed and walked to the window. There was a balcony outside the window and low roofs on either side of the building they were staying in. "Go up on the roof and we'll travel that way. It'll be easier to see our surroundings and avoid anyone on the streets." Claire ordered grumpily as she climbed out the window and jumped onto a low roof, off to find her angry friend.

"Well, looks like we have an ornery one huh Toboe?" Ilyana giggled as she complied with the black females order and patiently waited for Toboe to accompany her.

Claire was walking along the roof until she was above the door where Missy would be coming out any minute. Just as Missy crashed through the door, a snarling was heard from the other side of the alley and both wolves snapped their head in the direction the sound was coming from.

The hunter threw down his bottle of whiskey after it was completely drained and tugged on his faithful partner's leash, "Come on Blue, let's get moving." He patted her head fondly and continued walking down the street. Blue's head snapped down an alley as she picked up a scent. A blonde wolf slammed through the door of a house and started walking the opposite direction of her down the alley. She snarled and stalked forward, pulling her intoxicated master with her. The man quickly got the hint and pulled out his gun, focusing his sites on the relatively small blonde colored wolf that was now cowering as she slowly backed down the alley.

_SHIT!_ Claire thought to herself as she saw the man raise his gun. Whoever this guy was, he clearly was not good. "Missy, get the hell out of there!" She desperately yelled to her friend, but cursed to herself when she saw that she was frozen in fear. Claire jumped down in front of her and slammed her head into her shoulder, "RUN!" She snarled as she spun around to face the man and his pet. Missy bolted as soon as Claire snapped her out of her trance, heading straight for the nearby barrel that would lead to the roof that Toboe and Ilyana were currently waiting on.

Claire had no time to join her friends as the gun was fired, just grazing the fur on her face and the dog lunged at her. Just as she was preparing to leap at the coming dog, a steely gray blur slammed into the dog's side, throwing it into the garbage containers and stunning it momentarily. The very large gray wolf turned and snapped at Claire's feet. "Get moving unless you wanna be full of holes!" A deep angry voice snarled harshly as she turned tail and headed to the roof, the new male close on her heels.

The three waiting wolves saw the other two headed in their direction so they took off along the rooftops, leading their friend and the newcomer to safer ground. They all sprinted until they got to a large apartment complex where the large gray male stopped them and ushered them inside.

They all collapsed on the floor from exhaustion, save for the gray male who calmly took a post at the window to ensure that they weren't followed.

"Thanks for saving her Tsume! That could have ended real bad…" Toboe thanked the newly dubbed 'Tsume' and wagged his tail happily despite his exhaustion.

"Tch. Whatever," was his only reply. Claire could tell already that this guy was gonna drive her nuts. She subtly looked over her savior and noticed a large X-shaped scar on his chest. While it should have intimidated her, she felt a strange sense of sadness and compassion for the large wolf. She shook her head violently at the unexpected and unexplainable emotions flowing through her and tiredly rose to her feet to check up on her friend, who was still shaking from the frightening experience.

"Hey, you okay?" Claire nudged Missy's neck with her paw as she laid down next to her.

"As okay as I can be I guess. Why would they attack us though? We weren't hurting anyone…I didn't even see them until the dog started growling at me…" Missy lowered her head to her paws and sighed.

"Are you stupid? That man was a hunter. He doesn't care if you're hurting anything or not. He just wants you dead." Tsume snorted coldy, never taking his eyes from the window.

Claire snapped her jaws at him as she snarled, "Watch it asshole. She's had a rough time as it is. Back. Off." Tsume turned at her tone and growled quietly, "I'm being honest. If you can't survive in this town then you shouldn't be here."

Claire leapt to her feet and stood inches away from the larger male, face to face with him and a low threatening growl slipped through her exposed teeth. "I've had enough of you. If you don't back off now, I'm going to MAKE you!" She tensed her muscles, preparing for a fight. Tsume was shocked at first, no one had ever been that brave, he responded in kind however, though more as a precaution then actually intending to fight her. She was a female after all, as annoying as she was, he had no interest in fighting her.

Toboe wiggled his way between the two, "Please stop fighting…We'll never find your friends if we sit here fighting with each other…" He whimpered. Claire snorted and walked out the door. "Wait, Claire! Don't leave without us! Come on Tsume! You should come with us!" The young pup called as he raced after his companion. Missy had run out right after Claire, and the unusually silent Ilyana rose herself to her paws and looked at the male curiously, "You know, you could come with us. This city is no place for wolves, and a wolf has no business being alone." She said sadly as she walked out the door to follow the others.

Tsume watched as the four wolves left the building, pondering the reaction he had to the black female and the words the little gray one had left him with. He sighed as he walked to the door. _I'm going to regret this…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it took me so long to get a new chapter out! Classes just started for me last week so I'm still trying to get a feel for my schedule! I'm also going to be working on a DmC story along with SpringFlowerAngel! So please be on the lookout for that within the next couple days! As usual, I own nothing except for my OC's and the slight changes in the story to accomodate my characters :) None of the original wolf's rain characters or story belong to me :( Please enjoy! Reviews please! :D**

~Chapter 7~

Kiba and Hige sat at the entrance of the pipe the four wolves were using for temporary shelter as Livy and I curled up further down, still upset over Cheza's kidnapping.

I let out a sigh and rose to my feet once I was sure that Livy was sleeping, making my way over to the boys. "So now what do we do?" I asked as I sat on my haunches next to Kiba.

They glanced at me and Kiba replied, "We find her." _Well no duh… _I thought to myself. "How do you propose we do that?"

"Instinct." Was his only comment. I sighed and returned to where I had been lying next to Livy and curled up in a ball next to her. Might as well get some sleep while we wait.

I dozed off and on for the next few hours, Kiba and Hige taking turns with the watch while Livy slept solidly. Her slumber was disturbed when a series of loud sirens began sounding throughout the city. We all jumped to our feet and poked our heads through the pipe entrance to see what was going on. Police officers flooded the main streets, running towards one of the many large buildings in the middle of town.

"We need to move. While they're distracted we should be able to get on the roofs and make our way to the outer wall to the city. From there we'll find Cheza." Kiba said determined.

"Wait, our friends may still be in the city! We can't just leave!" I whined as I paced. I wanted to save Cheza as much as the next wolf, but I had to find my friends first!

Kiba growled lightly and stared at me for a moment. That moment felt like an eternity as his piercing gaze seemed to bore right through to my soul. "We'll search while we're on the roofs. If we don't hear or smell any sign of them, then they aren't here." He wasted no time jumping out of the pipe into the street, making his way to a nearby garbage heap to aid in his leap to the roof. Hige and Livy just stared at me in wonder, for what reason I had no idea and followed Kiba up to the roof. I sighed and brought up the rear of the group, happy that Kiba was giving my friends a chance, but nervous because he was right. They might not even be here…

I violently shook the thought away as I made my way after Kiba and the others. _I'll find you guys…I promise._

~3rd Person POV~

Claire, still fuming from her argument with Tsume, trotted along the rooftops, searching for the easiest way out of the city. If they were going to find Tori and Livy, they were going to have to broaden their scopes a bit.

"Claire! Wait up!" Missy whined as she struggled to catch up. When she finally reached Claire's side, she was panting heavily, exhausted by the unexpected run.

"Come on Missy. We have to keep moving if we're going to find them.." Claire said, hints of anger still lingering in her voice.

"Can't we take a break? We're all tired! Well, aside from you and Tsume.." Toboe whimpered from a little ways behind them.

At Tsume's name, Claire whipped around with her hackles up. "WHAT?! What are you doing following us you stupid mutt?!" She snarled and paced a few feet in front of the now highly offended Tsume.

"Watch it, I'm no mutt. If anyone here is a mutt, it's you and your stupid friend!" He snarled back.

Claire roared in anger at his insult to her friend and leapt for him, snarling and growling. He was returning the vicious snarls with his own and lowered himself into a fighting stance when a gray blur rushed forward and slammed into them both just as they were about to make contact.

Ilyana let out a low ferocious snarl as she glared while standing between the two baffled wolves. "I have had enough. We have more important things to do and wolves to find. No one wants to listen to you two bitch anymore!" She shook her head and continued her rebuke. "You two should be ashamed! The pup in our group is more mature than you too! Claire, you have friends you are desperately searching for, and Tsume. You finally have what could be a pack that would help you. In whatever way you need it. I think it's high time you both grew the hell up!" With a final snort, she continued the way they had been traveling as the two smallest wolves slunk up to follow her, avoiding eye contact with Claire and Tsume who were standing there staring at each other. Shell-shocked at what they had just heard.

Ilyana continued to lead the march for several minutes before she suddenly balked and sniffed the air. "Guys, I think we're close to some wolves…but I don't recognize the scents…" She trailed off sadly. Out of nowhere, sirens began screaming and soldiers were pouring out of the streets, heading to the large laboratory in the middle of town.

"What the hell?" Claire growled and backed away from the edge of the building they were standing to avoid being spotted.

"Damn…those stupid humans must have gone ahead with the plan..Hah. Well, maybe now the soldiers will be too distracted to notice our esc-" He was cut off when all of a sudden four wolves jumped to the roof they were on and made to break into a sprint away from the direction of the sirens, when they froze at the sight of the group.

~Tori's POV~

I froze as stared at the five wolves standing in front of me. I had never seen them before, but I just knew that I knew two of them. There was a dark gray male wolf with an X-shaped scar on his chest, a small brown male with silver bangles on his front feet, a small gray female that was now wagging her tail in a friendly manner at us, and then there was a tall pitch black female with ice blue eyes and a small blonde wolf with bright blue-green eyes. There was no mistaking the last two wolves my eyes landed on.

In a matter of seconds, two of the females from the new group, as well as Livy and I were in a pile in the middle of the roof, whimpering and nuzzling each other as we finally reunited.

The happy reunion was cut short by the snarling of Kiba and Tsume as they recognized each other, none too happy to see the other.

"Well tough guy. Looks like our rematch will come sooner than I thought." Tsume snarled as he began to stalk a circle around Kiba, who returned his glare with equal intensity and began pacing around as well.

I could only think of one word that suited this particular situation.

"Fuck"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is kind of short, but I feel like this was a good place to end the chapter! I will try to keep the chapters coming as often as I can, but with classes and my DmC story I've just started, it might take me a little bit so please be patient with me! :) Anyways, please leave me a review! I love to know what you guys think! Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Wolf's Rain or any characters! I only own my OC's! **

~Chapter 8~

_We finally get everyone together, and the stupid boys have to ruin it!_ I thought to myself with irritation. Kiba and Tsume were walking circles around each other growling menacingly. Everyone else just watched with worry clear on their faces. No one was brave enough to step between the two large males, but we couldn't just let them fight could we?

I waited for a space between the two to open up in front of me and leapt in the middle of them and growled a warning at them. "We don't have time for this. We need to get out of the city before the soldiers or that hunter and his dog find us!" Kiba stared at me shocked, while Tsume shot me an annoyed glance before huffing and walking to the other side of the roof and sitting on his haunches, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

Everyone let out a collected sigh of relief before finally relaxing and sitting down to plan our next move. I walked up to where Claire was sitting and laid my head on my paws next to her. "So," I sighed "What's our next move?" There was silence as everyone looked between Tsume and Kiba, waiting for one of them to explode, though neither was even looking at the others. I grumbled my annoyance and stood up, walking up to Kiba.

"Well? Where should we go oh fearless leader?" My tail wagged in amusement at the look he sent my way.

"We need to leave the city. The scent of the Lunar Flower isn't here anymore. We need to find Cheza."

"What the hell is a 'Cheza'?" Tsume retorted, finally stepping a little closer to the circle we had now formed.

"She's the Flower Maiden. The one that's going to lead us to Paradise." I replied. He snorted and turned away. "That's a bunch of bullshit. There's no such thing as Paradise." He sounded almost saddened, but his arrogant personality shown through once again when he added, "And even if it was real, there's no way in hell I would ever trust YOU to lead us to it." He glared at Kiba as he said this. Kiba sent him a cool glance, but otherwise ignored him.

Ilyana chose this time to intervene, seeing as everyone else was suddenly mute. "I'm going to refer back to the point we made about eight times already. We need to leave. Like right now." Everyone rose to their feet and nervously glanced at each other while waiting for someone to take the lead.

Kiba bolted across the roof, heading towards the lowest section of the wall leading to the outside of the city, I spun around and followed quickly after, with everyone falling in behind me. Missy and Hige were on my tail as I caught up to run beside Kiba, Livy and Ilyana were running on either side of Toboe right behind them, and Tsume brought up the rear, lagging behind as he begrudgingly followed the rest of the wolves.

We were within sight of the wall when we suddenly heard a vicious snarl come from behind us. We all stopped and spun around, seeing the black dog that belonged to the hunter snarling at us. Tsume, being at the back of the group, was closest to her, so he was her obvious target. She dove at him and he lowered himself so she couldn't get a grip on him and shoved her back with his shoulder. "Get out of here! I'll catch up!" He turned back to the she-dog and growled lowly, flashing his large and dangerous fangs. He then leapt at her and she bit into his shoulder. He pulled them over the edge and sent them crashing to a pile of crates below.

I hesitated and made to go help him, but Claire stepped in front of me and nudged me with her nose. "You heard him. He can handle this. It'll be less distracting if we're out of the way." She said bluntly. I could see her own hesitation in her eyes though as she turned and sent a quick worried glance at where Tsume had landed. I sighed and turned, seeing that Kiba had already jumped to the top of the wall and was waiting for us to join him.

"Don't worry babe, he looks all big and bad. I'm sure he'll be fine!" Hige added lightheartedly.

"Okay, let's just get going." I huffed. Toboe whined and glanced between the wall and Tsume before reluctantly and slowly making his way up to the top of the wall. Livy waited at the base for him to get there, and then jumped up with him.

Once we were all safely atop the wall, Kiba was the first jump down into the snow covering the ground below us. Hige was quick to follow with Ilyana right behind him, all landing gracefully and walking forward to give us more room. The rest of us gazed uneasily at the distance between us and the ground. Claire was the bravest, and took little time to prepare herself, choosing instead to just leap off and hope for the best. She landed with only a little difficulty in a pile of snow and trotted up to where Kiba, Ilyana and Hige were standing, waiting for the rest of us to jump down.

"Come on! It's not as bad as it looks!" Claire called up to us. I peeked over the edge of the wall and shivered a little in fear as I stepped back and tried to prepare myself. _Come on, if they can do it so can I! Besides, I survived being attacked by that dog_

I gathered up my courage and walked back up to the edge, sucked in a deep breath and jumped to the ground, landing almost gracefully until I tripped over my own paws and tumbled a couple times before finally raising myself up to my feet and meeting the amused look on Kiba's face and hearing the laughing of Claire and Hige. Ilyana sent me a sympathetic, but amused glance and I turned to watch the others make their jumps.

Missy and Livy stood next to each other at the edge, looking apprehensively down as they got ready to jump, a nervous looking now-human Toboe behind them. The two she-wolves bravely made their jump next, landing unceremoniously on their bellies as their feet had slipped out from under them. Wincing at their landing, I trotted up to them and helped them to their feet before rejoining the others.

Toboe was wringing his hands nervously as he took deep breaths, gathering courage. He suddenly felt a shove against his back and felt himself fall through the air to land almost on his face in a deep snow bank. He pulled himself up and sent a halfhearted glare at Tsume's human form as he landed gracefully next to the snow pile. "What the heck was that for!" Toboe whined as he stood and brushed the snow off of himself.

"We don't have all day pup." He grumbled and continued walking, Toboe trailing close behind.

Kiba, after making sure everyone was uninjured, turned and started running away from the city, the rest of us falling in line behind him much as we had before.

I let out a contented sigh as I thought to myself:

_Looks like it's time for our real adventure to start!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the hu~ge gap in updating, I've had a hard time finding inspiration for my stories, but I'm hoping to get back in the groove now that school is done! This chapter is a bit of a filler, to get by until I get them back into the main plot, but I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**~Disclaimer~ I do not own wolf's rain or any of the anime/manga plot used in this story. I only own my OC's Claire, Livy, Tori, Ilyana and Missy!**

* * *

~Chapter 9~

A strong wind blew aggressively across the plains as the wolves made their way through deep snow piles. Kiba and I walked at the front, clearing as much of a path as we could through the chest-deep snow. Missy and Livy walked on either side of Toboe next, trying to keep each other warm with Hige and Ilyana right on their tails. Tsume brought up the rear, still grumbling about "paradise" and "stupid crazy wolves".

A particularly powerful blast of wind caused three of the wolves in the middle to stumble and trip over their paws, with Hige letting loose a strong laugh, while Ilyana tried to get them back to their feet. I turned and sighed at the sight of the three youngest struggling to stand, stiff from the cold and soaked from the snow.

"Kiba, maybe we should find somewhere to rest. I don't think they can keep up any more, and to be honest, I'm completely exhausted." My shivering legs only backed my claim and Kiba noticed. He gazed across the plains searching for some sort of cover, when he saw a small cave over a nearby hill, most likely constructed for human travelers when weather took a turn for the worst.

I followed his glance and saw the cave as well. I slumped slightly in relief and started to walk towards it when Kiba growled lightly and stepped in front of me. I froze and looked at him cautiously, wondering what had upset him, and saw him glaring at the cave with uncertainty.

"Wait. I'm going to go check it out and make sure there are no humans nearby. Stay here with the others. Tsume!" He called before I could protest. The large gray wolf stalked forward and showed a little teeth in annoyance.

"We need to go check out that cave. The pups are tired and I want to make sure we can rest in peace." Kiba explained. Tsume grumbled and trotted for the cave, not bothering to make sure Kiba followed. Kiba looked over to Hige, "Watch out for them. Any sign of danger and get them out of here." Hige nodded and sat on his haunches, seemingly relaxed, but I could see the tension of his muscles, ready to move at the first sign of danger.

Kiba bolted after Tsume and I growled with annoyance. "Calm down babe, Kiba knows what he's doing." Hige said good naturedly.

"I can handle myself just fine. I don't need to sit back here and be useless while they go looking for trouble." I paced and growled quietly as I watched them approach the cave.

Claire walked up and nudged me with her nose. "Quit worrying so much. You should help me warm them up, they're freezing." She successfully distracted me as I turned and saw the three huddled and shivering with Ilyana strangely quiet beside Hige. Livy gave me a pitiful look from between Missy and Toboe.

I let out a heavy sigh and trotted over to them, forcing them to lay down with my front paws and plopping unceremoniously on top of them. They all huffed and giggled in response, and I smiled inwardly, glad to relax their tension and take of the bite of the cold, if only a little. Claire joined me soon and lay down next to Missy to share some warmth.

Only a few minutes passed when we heard two strong, deep howls pierce through the air. Our heads shot up and I glanced at Hige and Ilyana to gauge their reaction. Hige's tan tail wagged excitedly as he bounced up to us, Ilyana happily prancing beside him. "Let's go! The coast is clear!"

With that, we all scrambled up and took off for the cave a few kilometers away from us. "Race you!" I called good naturedly to the three trailing wolves as Claire snickered from beside me. I dug my claws into the snow and shoved off, determined to encourage them to get to the cave as quickly as I could. I heard them gaining on me and let out a light chuckle as we approached the entrance. Kiba and Tsume stood there watching, Kiba with amusement and Tsume with slight annoyance.

Unfortunately, I hadn't thought about the ice that could be under the snow and when I planted my feet strongly into the snow to stop, I continued to slide forward, bowling over Kiba and Tsume in the process. The others managed to stop and they all burst out laughing at the sight of our 'dog-pile'.

After disentangling myself from the pile, I glanced over nervously at the two large, testosterone driven males. Kiba shook snow of his white coat and let out a sigh, shooting me an amused yet stern glance, while Tsume snarled as he shook and fiercely glared at me as he growled profanities. I tucked my tail slightly and lowered my head, "Sorry guys, I uh, didn't think about the ice." I chuckled nervously and watched my feet.

"Stupid female." I heard Tsume growl out as he made his way into the cave. I heard Claire let out a low growl as she stalked up beside me, fixing him with an angry glare. "Why don't you get that stick out of your ass you stupid dog." I started at her aggression and nudged her with my shoulder to shush her. I felt her muscles tense as Tsume slowly stalked back towards us.

He curled his lips up in a silent snarl as he glared daggers and Claire's proud and tense form. "Watch your mouth bitch. I'm sick of dealing with stupid females and your cocky attitude isn't helping."

Claire's tail shot up and her hackles rose with dominance and anger and she let out a deep warning growl from deep in her throat and flashed her white teeth, a stark contrast to her shiney black coat. "Say that again you stupid bastard!"

Tsume snorted and turned to walk back into the cave. Claire had obviously had enough, and before I could stop her, shot of like a bullet straight for Tsume. She slammed into his side and the two tumbled into a mass of fur and growls as they bit and shoved into each other, rolling around the cave as their fight continued.

I made to go stop them when Kiba again stepped in front of me. "They need to do this. It won't get out of hand, don't worry." He said calmly. Once he was certain I wasn't going to bolt in the middle he sat on his haunches next to me and watched the fight play out. Missy, Livy and Toboe crawled forward and lay down beside me. Livy let out a quiet whimper as she watched our friend fighting the much larger male. Ilyana stood beside her and licked behind her ear comfortingly. Hige came up beside Kiba and whispered "Don'tcha think we should stop them? Tsume doesn't hold back, he might hurt her." Kiba threw him a quick glance and returned his watch to the scuffle. "He won't hurt her. Look, they're just about done."

Just as he finished that sentence, Tsume flipped Claire off his back and pinned her to the floor of the cave, gripping her scruff with his teeth and let out a feral snarl. For a few moments Claire struggled and snarled, but eventually was too warn out to continue, and finally slumped in defeat. Tsume immediately released her and snorted, making his way to the far corner of the cave entrance and lay down, resting his head on his paws.

I was impressed at his lack of gloating, but feeling the need to defend my friend, I walked up to him and let out a quiet snarl, causing him to look over at me and tense in response. "I understand that you felt you had to put her in her place, but if you ever manhandle her like that again I will make you regret it." I stared at him for another moment and turned to make my way to my friends.

Kiba and Tsume took watch while the rest of us curled up to rest. Claire and I slept close to the entrance, while the other five huddled into a ball to keep warm next to each other.

I tried to sleep, but finally being able to rest in peace made me look back to everything that's happened recently. Between leaving little Hannah and her family, to fighting off the dog and finding Kiba, to reuniting with my friends, I was overwhelmed with emotion and whined in discomfort as I thought about how we were going to get back home. Claire looked over and nudged me for comfort before falling back to sleep. I decided that sleep wasn't going to come to me, I rose to my feet and shook my fur, walking up to Kiba who sat proudly at the mouth of the cave.

"You should rest. We leave at dawn." Kiba said quietly as I sat on my haunches next to him.

I gazed up at the starry sky and let out a heavy sigh. "I know, but I can't sleep. There's too much on my mind." He glanced over at me and stretched before curling up in a ball. "You should try harder. Sleep will come if you try hard enough." He said gently, shuffling himself over so his shoulder brushed my side. Taking that as an invitation, I yawned and curled up next to him, sleep soon overtaking me.

Before I completely fell asleep, I felt Kiba rest his head over my neck and I let out a sigh of contentment, thinking to myself:

_As badly as I want to go home, maybe this isn't so bad._


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Sorry about the delay in updating, I've been having troubles with inspiration lately :( I'm not giving up the story though so please bear with me! Sorry if this chapter isn't as good, I had trouble incorporating my characters into this part of the series. Please review and let me know what you think! Any ideas or constructive criticism are appreciated! Thanks and enjoy! :)**

* * *

I awoke to the sound of growls and snarls filling the cave. I shot up quickly and my eyes locked on the source of the sounds. I saw Kiba and Tsume pacing around each other, the rest of our makeshift pack pacing nervously except for Ilyana and Claire. Ilyana was watching with careful watchfulness while Claire huffed every now and then with annoyance.

"I'm better off on my own! This Paradise is a stupid dream for pups!" Tsume growled out as his wolf form continued circling Kiba. The white wolf let out an angry growl, golden eyes piercing as he glared at the larger gray wolf.

"Paradise IS real. And I'm going to find it." He said determinedly. I walked up next to Toboe and Livy, who were both dancing in place anxiously as they watched the argument, heads low and tails tucked. I nudged Livy with my nose and she whined nervously.

"Don't worry, they just have to work it out. Nothing we can do about it." I sat on my haunches just as Tsume took off into the blizzard.

"Tsume, wait!" Toboe called. When he received no answer he whimpered and paced a little before sending us a determined, yet nervous look. "I'm going to go bring him back."

Livy groaned a little and walked up next to him. "I'm gonna go with him." I raised my head, ready to argue, but she shook her head at me. "Don't worry Tori, I'll be okay. We'll catch up to you guys, don't worry!" She sent me a wolfy grin and bounded after Toboe into the snow.

Hige walked up to me and bumped his shoulder against mine. "Don't worry so much. They may be small, but it's so desolate out here I'm sure there's nothing that'll hurt 'em." I groaned at his very unhelpful attempt at comfort and walked up to Kiba, who was still tense from his standoff with Tsume.

"So, where to?" I asked tentatively as I sat next to him. He looked at me briefly before sighing quietly and walking out of the cave.

"We keep going. If they want to come with us they'll find us." With that, he started the trek through the snow. Missy and Claire walked on either side of me behind Kiba while Hige bounced between us and him, trying to keep everyone in good spirits. Ilyana brought up the rear, glancing watchfully around us for any signs of danger, occasionally taking a small detour off to the sides as she tried to catch any signs of her missing sister.

After a while of walking, Kiba suddenly stopped, glancing down at his feet and I saw him tense visibly. I trotted up to him and looked to see what he was looking at. What I saw caused fear to course through me. A sticker from an army weapon sat menacingly, uncovered from the snow and taunting me with its hazard warning. I looked at Kiba and saw that uncertainty filled his features.

"Kiba, we have to go find them. They could be in danger!" I turned to head back, but Hige stood in front of me, stopping my advance.

"Whoa whoa whoa, we can't just run after them without a plan! If there's something dangerous there then we have to be prepared!" I growled at him and walked around him.

"Stay here with them then. I'll be back." I took off at a sprint, following our tracks back to the cave and following the tracks of the three missing wolves in the shallow snow. Before long, I heard padding paws behind me. I turned my head to see Kiba and Ilyana running to catch up to me. When they approached, Kiba gently butted his shoulder against me before taking the lead while Ilyana licked my chin and fell into step just behind me as we rushed to our companions.

* * *

**With Tsume, Toboe and Livy**

Toboe shivered as he desperately tried to find a way to help Tsume. "Tsume please, there has to be another way!" He howled as he watched Tsume distract the machine from the two smaller wolves. Livy whimpered, her small gray form shivering with fear as she huddled next to Toboe.

"Dammit runt, just get her out of here!" He snarled as he dodged another round of gunfire from the large machine that was chasing him. Toboe tucked his head before bolting across a large icy bridge with Livy right on his tail. After seeing them make their move, Tsume followed quickly behind them.

When the machine saw them gaining distance, it shot the bridge they were running across, causing it to crumble and the three wolves fell to the ravine below. Tsume grunted with pain as he looked to his side, seeing blood from a bullet wound oozing from his shoulder.

Toboe and Livy shook off their soreness and made their way over to him, whining and pacing as they heard the machine approach. Toboe huddled next to Tsume and growled, trying and failing to scare the machine away. Livy just whimpered as she squeezed between the two wolves. Just when they thought they were done for, a loud, powerful howl resounded through the ravine.

The wolves and the machine turned up to the sound to see a large white wolf standing proudly from above.

* * *

I prayed we had made it in time when suddenly we heard a chorus of yips and gunfire. I picked up the pace as we approached a deep ravine. Kiba motioned me and Ilyana over to a slow decline leading into the ravine while he stood at an overhang and released a deep howl that echoed throughout the ravine.

We ran down the incline, seeing the injured Tsume and the two small wolves next to him. I let out a bark to get their attention while Ilyana slunk along the side, creeping up to the three wolves.

At the sound of my bark, the three whipped their head over to me. Toboe and Livy immediately perked up and ran over to me in excitement while Tsume limped slowly along behind them. I looked up when I heard the grinding of gears and saw the machine turning to take aim on the injured gray wolf.

"Tsume! Move your furry ass!" I yelled as I led the two small wolves away. Ilyana ran up to the machine, biting at the gun to distract it. She was quickly thrown off, hitting the icy cliff and fell to the ground with a yelp of pain, desperately trying to stand up.

Just as the machine was about to finish her off, Kiba snarled and latched onto the gun of the machine, snarling and glaring at the camera. The machine twisted rapidly, trying to dislodge the angry wolf. While the machine was distracted, I ran up to Ilyana and helped her to stand and leading her back to the entrance where the two smaller wolves were waiting with Tsume and Ilyana.

By the time we made it there, Kiba had led the machine away. Fearing the worst, I told the others to stay there and followed the path of destruction that led to the still feuding pair. When I approached, the machine was being carried away by an avalanche while Kiba watched, ensuring that the machine wouldn't attack again.

When he was satisfied, he turned and sighed before leading me back to our companions. We approached them and Tsume sent Kiba a calculating look. "Why did you help me?"

Kiba just stared for a moment before he answered. "I don't know. It was just…instinct." Tsume considered this before he shrugged and walked off, back towards Hige and the others.

I watched the rest of the pack making their way back, sighing with relief that we got Tsume back. As annoying as he could be, we needed him and I couldn't help but feel like he needed us a little too.

When we made it back to the others, they sent us curious and worried looks, but choosing not to say anything due to the sour look on Tsume's face.

"Don't worry guys, we're all okay." I saw Claire send a worried look over towards Tsume's injury, but quickly masked it with annoyance when she turned to me.

"Would you quit doing stupid shit please? I would rather not have to bury you after just finding you again." I chuckled at her worry and sat down next to her. Missy and Livy were having a rambunctious reunion along with Toboe, wrestling and playing as we waited for what to do next.

"So Kiba, where to next?" Ilyana asked as she lay down next to Hige. I turned to Kiba, awaiting his response.

"Yeah Kiba. Where is your 'instincts' telling us to go?" Tsume huffed in annoyance. I couldn't help but smile at the tough front Tsume tried to put on for everyone.

Kiba led us away, continuing on our wild chase for the ever elusive Lunar Flower.

**Review please! :D**


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